Nikola Jokic sat patiently at the scorers' table, waiting a few extra minutes before being allowed to check-in.
Although he eventually returned with a 5:21 in the fourth quarter, the act was mostly cosmetic. The Nuggets broke a three-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon and registered an easy 124-104 win over the Reeling Nets. Brooklyn dropped their eighth game in a row, while the Nuggets, thanks to a quality defensive half, improved the season to 29–24.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, "We talked at halftime, and I basically said, 'The first team to play any defense is going to win the game.
Nets scored a total of 29 points in the second half.
"...that's what we need to be," Malone said.
Jokic's late appearance only cemented his NBA-leading 14th triple-double. Jokic finished the afternoon on 12 with 27 points from 15 shoots, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, dominating the game with his touch and efficiency. He paced the Nuggets, who finished with 37 assists.
Regarding the defensive face of his team, Jokic couldn't help but scoff at his team.
"Wonderful, isn't it?" Jokic said of the first half of Brooklyn's 75 points. "Did we break any records?"
Aaron Gordon was stellar, putting down 17 points, snatching nine rebounds and making seven assists in addition to his steady defense on Kyrie Irving. With no Kevin Durant or James Harden available, Irving was the focal point of Brooklyn's attack. He scored 27 points but 26 out of 10 off the field. Blake Griffin added 19, but after Malone made Jeff Greene in the second half, Jokic was not made his primary cover.
DeMarcus Cousins played 16 quality minutes, recording five points and nine rebounds. The Nuggets' Store added 35 points as a unit.
Jokic broke Brooklyn in the third quarter. The Nets had no answer for their drop-step, or any other shiny post flexing the current MVP. After hanging several quick buckets, he began to separate the net from him. That aside, after most of the damage was done, he gave Gordon an easy dump-down pass to jam. A 20-5 run punctuated by 3-pointers from Gordon and Will Barton opened the game.
But more than Jokic's magic or Gordon's takeoff, the best part of the quarter may have been his defensive effort. Barton chased down Nets forward Kessler Edwards for a momentum-swinging block, and Gordon bottled up Irving in a jiffy. Complementary play took the Nuggets to fourth place with a 107-91 lead.
"We had a really good film session (Saturday)," Malone said Sunday morning. "Before getting into the movie, it was talking, we won five games in a row, then in February we're 0-3, and in February we have a defensive rating of 29. ... It's just a matter of turning the page and telling Brooklyn." It can't be about being ready. It has to be, 'Why were we 0-3?'"
It boiled down to transition defense, point of attack defense, pick-and-roll defense, and defense of paint. Malone, only half-joking, said that the film session was what he had seen for 52 games.
"At some point, when is enough, enough?" He expressed surprise, questioning his team's idea of praising his shots rather than backing down on the defense.
The first half of Sunday offered a resounding "not yet".
Defense was optional in the first two quarters as the Nuggets took a 76-75 lead at halftime. Denver shot 62%, setting up camp for 40 first-half points inside Brooklyn's pent. Jokic, who pushed Malone to take more shots, had 18 points at halftime, with 14 points in the second quarter alone. His slow-motion Euro-step fitted the Nets defenders while unlocking the Nuggets' most effective offense.
During the filming session, Malone gave Jokic an essential message: "'Shoot the ball. You're a great player. We need to take these shots.'"
But to Malone's irritability, there was no defense. Led by 19 points each from Griffin and Irving, the Nets scorched the 3-point line. His 12 first half 3-pointers kept the game close and encouraged a high-octane competition.